I didn't have the money to buy an four post lift (remember, there're weren't the cheap buggers you can buy today, they were very expensive then) So I bought the pieces the car is sitting on from a gas station that closed, they are off of an in ground single post lift. I then made the rest. The long ramps were so you could get a very low car up for alignment.

The metal Flake deuce was on the front cover of Street Rodder Mag April 73 when it was in Hawaii with the Waikiki skyline behind it, long before I knew it existed. Sad thing is he pulled it apart and never got it back together. He is in a rest home now and it's still in a garage.

Before.

After

Before.

After in Rodders Journal #32. This is my fathers truck that I drove in highschool, I was so happy to see my brother able to "restore" it and keep it. I didn't do much of the work as seen in the mag, I had closed my shop and was working for someone and gave up any side work projects like that, just don't have the time anymore. I did some of the work where I was working but we were too booked to take in the whole project. My brother just couldn't wait he brought it to a "friend's" shop and the guy not only raked him over the coals on cost he did a horrible job and my brother actually gets ticked off every time he looks at it.

I did a lot of custom work at the onset of the mini truck craze. It was a lot of fun.

Before the mini truck craze was the VW craze, did TONS of work on those cars. Chopped tops, suicide doors, filled about a million side moulding holes. filled so many exhaust cutouts and front horn grilles and park lamp holes I had metal templates hanging on the wall.

My son (now 30) working hard.
Before.

After

What would become my sister-in-laws summer daily driver still to this day.

I did a number of bikes, restoring vintage ones and even making some "hot rods" out of vintage 26" bikes with modern braking and gears and such.

Before.

After

I had a lot of fun.

When I think back now of course all the hard times working until 1 am to get something done so I could pay the rent and stuff like that is largely forgotten. It was some real good times I am awefully glad I was a part of. The building the shop was in a older industrial building. This shot was taken from a little Cessna 150 owned and flown by a guy that worked in the muffler shop next to me. This guy by the way is a MASTER at detail and quality. He is an airline pilot now and does a car once in a while at his house, STUNNING detail, and he rebuilt his home with the same detail. We all know how a house is pretty far off the kind of perfection you see in a show car, this guys house is damn close to what you see in that show car, it is wild with perfection.

The building was managed by a woman who retired when they knocked the building down, she was 93 and had worked for this family as her only job since she was 17! They didn't let anyone come in the building that would be competition to any tenants. So there was no BS, a muffler shop, a body shop, a European auto specialist, my brothers mechanical shop, a machine shop, a camper repair, a transmission shop, and a printer. It was a darn cool place, it is all gone, the entire property including the lot behind and in front of the shop is now covered in apartments.

I sure have some great memories that is for sure. And yes I was an "Import specialist" doing a lot of Japanese collision repair, didn't think those photos would be of interest so I didn't post them. Wish I had some of a few of them though. Did a 71 510 Datsun with a SSS motor and added box flares, it was a very cool little hot rod.

Brian

nice blast from the past! I like that bike you guys did...no,not the pink bicycle.

I'm not understanding something about your truck,,, I thought it was already chopped..

I replaced the cab when I started the rebuild in 95'. The cab I chopped in 1974 had a big hole in the floor where the 401 nailhead sat, it had a flat firewall (no recess needed if there is on engine there right?) the roof skin had two gallons of bondo on it from when at 16 I didn't know how to hammer weld across the skin. It had no seat riser, it had a bunch of problems and I wanted to start fresh. I had a super nice cab available to me for only $150 so I sold the old cab and started fresh.

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